Autism stories from around the world.

Difference is celebrated but yet we are left behind.

I’d love to bring together the unheard voices and to change and challenge the ways that autism is seen and heard.

My research for my Post Grad Diploma in Autism Studies with the National Autistic Society sadly highlighted that we are not really seen and heard. And when we are, it is often not in the way that we want, and need, it to be.

The fact that we are expected to have a social media profile in order to be credible, means that so many voices are unheard and too many stories are not being told.

My hope is that we can change that; my dream is that we challenge the stereotypes and dismantle the myths, the misconceptions and all of the misunderstanding.

I am not a philosopher or academic or psychologist. I am just me.  

There are lots of books about humans. Some are written by philosophers, some by anthropologists and many by psychologists and academic researchers. These books all look at humans from the outside in. Like a doctor with a stethoscope who hears something unusual and then tries to figure out what it might be based only on the knowledge they already have.   

I don’t want to do that. The authors of these books have already done it and are far better trained to examine humanity from an evolutionary perspective than I am. In fact, the total opposite is true of me. I don’t understand humanity at all, and the book I’d like to write is intended to be my ponderings and wonderings about why that is.

I know that I am different and have always felt that I didn’t fit in, but never understood why. I presumed that I just wasn’t trying hard enough and so I set about trying harder and harder to be what I thought was needed and wanted in every situation.   

If you have ever felt like you don’t fit in or if you have ever felt that you were experiencing life in a different way to those around you, then this short guide might help you to recognise yourself. At the very least it might let you know that you are not alone in your quest to find out who you are and why.   

Possibly it is not for yourself that you are seeking answers and explanations. Possibly someone you know or care about is difficult to understand and you are trying to recognise why.

The one thing that all of the philosophers and anthropologists and psychologists seem to agree on is that humans like to find answers and explanations. Sometimes they place this above reason or facts.

In a desperate attempt to fit in lots of humans adapt their behaviour and thoughts and values so that they fit in with the group in which they belong. Doing this apparently comes naturally to them. They form a sort of tribe and feel happy knowing that they belong. Because this tribe has shared values and rules of engagement they will not take kindly to deviation. Difference is seen as dissent and the perpetrator must be exiled.   

At least that is how life feels for me. Exploring why this happens I will leave to the specialists. Explaining how this affects people like me is something that I would like to do.

Because it is not just me. There are lots of people who feel and see and hear the world differently and they get up every day hoping to find a place to belong and to be part of a society that understands and accepts them. Is that too much to ask?